Israel imposes lockdown on territories

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Israel imposed a clampdown on the West Bank today and increased
security around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid fears of
an outbreak of unrest in the event of Yasser Arafat dying in a
Paris hospital.

"The entry of any Palestinian man into Israel under the age of
50 is forbidden, even if he has an entry permit," an army spokesman
said.

In addition, only women over the age of 35 would be authorised
to cross into Israel, the spokesman added.

The measure is most likely to impact residents of the West Bank
who want to enter east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel in
1967.

Large numbers of police reinforcements had also been sent to the
mosque compound in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, which also
contains the Western Wall, regarded as the holiest site in
Judaism.

Israeli security forces operating in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip were placed on maximum alert late yesterday as news emerged
that Arafat was near death in a hospital on the outskirts of the
French capital.